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Day 30: Friday, 7 September 2007 –
Entering Turkey from Cesme |
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Previous stories are posted on
Past section. Our
cruising 2007 logs are posted at
2007-01
2007-02 and
2007-03 in
chronological order. You can also
read our decision and events leading up to the
purchase, boat survey, purchasing process,
registration process, etc. under
introduction
section.
Back to where we are:
Pictures: Drinking Turkish coffee at the customs
director's office, after clearance by customs and police, raising
the Turkish
flag.
We crossed the channel
between Khios and Cesme with ease, started at
8:00 am and arrived in the marina at 9:30.
Someone hailed us and helped us to tie the boat.
We learnt that the marina was owned by the
harbour authority and it was practically empty.
It had water and electricity at about $35 per
day for a 12m boat.
We went to the customs
office to find the director (general manager) of
customs. He was not there but other officers
told us that we need to go to another harbour to
get the registration forms. The other place was
about 20 minutes away, so I got on a minibus (dolmus)
paid 2TL (approximately 1.4 USD) and got the
forms. By the time I came back, it was lunch
break so we waited until 1:30 pm. Once we filled
out the forms, it was first approved at the
health office then at the harbour office then to
the customs then we had Bob's and Elizabeth's
visas and stamps, got the forms back to the
harbour. No fees were paid except for 45 Euro
for visas which all Canadians pay.
At the customs
director's office, we had first class welcoming treatment
with Turkish coffee and took a few pictures. Camerons were happy that we were safely in
Turkey and could go anywhere they wanted to go.
So, the plan was that
I go to Izmir to unite my wife and real snow
white (our daughter) and they go to Ephesus
which was already arranged by Bob at the tourism
office by the harbour.
We made plans for the
next few days as follows.
We will tour the area
by boat and/or by car. Then we will go to Foca,
Candarli and Ayvalik. After hauling the boat we
will go to Istanbul for the last five days of
the journey.
38.40'. 00 N
and 26.45'.00 E
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Day
31-32:
Saturday-Sunday, 8-9 September 2007 Cesme and
Izmir |
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I rented a car from
Charlie Cafe across the marina for 80 TL a day
for three days. I drove to Izmir to re-unite
with my family, Becky (Happy) and Arsu Karli
(Snow White) after 30 days of being at sea. We
stayed in Izmir at her aunt's place. After
successfully repairing my cell phone (dropped
into the sea in Greece), I was able to use the
same phone and number again. We did some
shopping and sight seeing. Izmir was busy and
hectic, it took some getting used to after being
away from traffic and populated areas for long
times.

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Day
33: Monday, 10 September 2007, Full crew on boat |
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We arrived in Cesme on Monday afternoon. Settled
in the boat, Camerons were out in Cesme. Left
them a note and went to visit our professor
friend from North Carolina State University. Dr.
Ozisik is now bed ridden but he acknowledged our
arrival. He is one of the foremost authority in
heat transfer whose projects I worked 30 years
ago while studying for my master's degree at
North Carolina State University. His wife, Sevgi is a medical (eye) doctor, took us around
Cesme and surroundings. We stopped and took many
pictures in Alacati where they are building
Riviera type canal and houses along which you
can tie your sail boat. I think we need to work
three times as hard and get a place there before
they are all gone. We took some video shots of
the place to review it later. |
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Day
34: Tuesday, 11 September 2007,
Cesme bay |
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We had a day trip around the bays in larger
Cesme Bay. It was a beautiful day with light
breeze so we did have some
sailing. We stopped and had a very expensive
milk shake and tea ($5+ each) at Altin Yunus
Hotel (Golden Dolphin). This was the place where
they had no space in the marina. In the evening,
we went our separate ways, had dinner in town.
38.40'.
00 N and 26.45'.00 E
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Day
36: Wednesday, 12-13 September 2007, Foca |
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We left Cesme
at about 10:30 am on Wednesday morning and
headed north to Foca. Again it was a picture
perfect day with wind from behind
sailing all the
way to our destination. It was almost 5 pm when
we arrived.
I called the harbour authority to arrange us a
place whom I had already spoken before. He said
to board the ferry boat which would be safer and
quieter. So, we approached the boat, there was
nobody there but starboard side was blocked by a
boat. We boarded the port side which was open to
wind. So, we decided to switch sides. Bob made a
sharp entry, I jumped out and tried to hold and
tie the boat. We came in pretty hard but the
bumpers were on the side protecting us. We
secured the boat and all crew went to explore
the town. I found the harbour person to confirm
our place. We moved the other boat a bit farther which
happened to be the captain's boat and secured our
boat by the ferry boat entrance. Foca
is known for its windy conditions and this day
was no exception.
We spent
another day here, bought fish from the locals
and had them grilled on a barrowed charcoal
grill. We had a great time with walking around,
swimming, shopping and watching the fishing
boats coming in and going out. The fishing
season just started and fish was in abundance
everywhere.


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Day 37:
Friday, 14 September 2007, Foca to Candarli |
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We left Foca at 11:45 am. The wind was blowing
already at 20 knots in the harbour. We wanted to go to Candarli
which was about 20 nm away. As we turned around
the nose of the bay, it was blowing very hard
over 30 knots with 3-5m high waves and right on
the nose. We tried to take the waves in an angle
but that lost us a lot of time. By the time we
entered into Candarli port it was past 4 pm
(which would have been a three hours ride). Candarli fishing port was so shallow we barely
turned around perhaps hitting the ground at
1.5m. We went to eastern bay and found a deeper
area and anchored there. It was a quiet place, most
summer holiday people were gone, we saw a few
swimmers and fishing boats. Bob and Elizabeth
stayed on boat while the rest of us went to see
Becky's lot in a summer resort area. We rented a
taxi cab for 40 YTL who took us to the place and
back about 15 km away.
We returned to the boat before dark. Today was
also marked the start of Ramadan, the holly
month of Muslim religion. The night was
uneventful. 
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Day 38-39:
Saturday-Sunday, 15-16 September 2007, Ayvalik |
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We left Candarli early to catch early morning
quiet times at around 8 am. It was indeed a flat
sea all the way to Dikili which was 15 nm away.
We could not find a space in Dikili harbour
which also had questionable depth. We said we
could make it to Ayvalik another 18 nm away. It
was only 11:30 am.
As we headed out for Ayvalik, wind picked up to
around 18 knots right on the nose of course.
However, we wanted to sail and made some
progress by tacking since we had time to. After
the wind speed reached 24 knots, it was time to
motor only. We took both sails down and headed
for Ayvalik. It was a marked channel into
Ayvalik with about 7m depth. On the way in, we
called the marina office (SETUR) to ask for
directions. They directed us to the opposite
side of the bay into Cunda port which had 2.5m
water. I asked for directions again and told to
turn around to the other side of the bay about 2
nm away. Anyway, we were greeted by a marina
boat to our location which was right in front of
the office. I came along the port side easily
and tied the boat. Office manager came in and
welcomed us. We got electricity and water hook
ups. It was about 5 pm. I congratulated the crew
for "mission accomplished!" After all had
showers and a little rest, I took them to town
and treated all for a traditional home made
Turkish meal. We all ate so much that were
thinking about dieting for the next month. But,
just along the sidewalk on the way back to the
boat, Becky found a place for additional desert,
I ate a special custard with ice-cream.
We had a good night sleep and had a full
breakfast on board.
The next morning, we completed the registration
and haul out timing. We found a bus company
which will take us to Istanbul on Tuesday
evening. I had the gas station bring over diesel
to top up the tank while others had a light
lunch.
That afternoon, Becky's friends, the Alpugan
family came with two cars, took us to a hill
called Devil's foot which had a beautiful view
of the area, then to the beaches area, and then
to the old city. We really enjoyed this sight
seeing. Then they offered us tea at a seaside
restaurant in the old city.
We had dinner at the marina. Marina provided
free wireless internet, all had a chance to
update themselves via internet and emails.
 
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Day 40:
Monday, 17 September 2007, Bergama (Pergamum) |

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Amazing place and history. We walked over the
places that were build around 300-400 BC, place
of fight for Persian, Peloponnesians, Trojans,
Alexander the Great, and so on. You can view
additional
pictures from the link below
http://www.worldtravellers.net/pictures/turkey/turkey23.html
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Day 41: Tuesday, 18
September 2007, Hauling Out Snow White |
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We cleaned and prepared the boat all day long
until 3 pm. Everyone worked hard to wash, clean,
take out the stuff, bring the dingy, bimini,
life raft in, emptied the water, top up the fuel
tank, all the usual work. At 3:30 pm, we have
successfully hauled out Snow White. It had a
good power wash, we inspected it all around and
arranged for winterization, etc. Camerons took
many pictures which will be posted here soon. It
was about 6 pm, Alpugan family came along, took
all of us to their home and had an excellent
dinner while waiting for our bus departure time.
Becky, Arsu and Oyku took a different bus to go
to Zonguldak, back to their home town, while we took
our bus to go to Istanbul. We all left at the
same time, 10:30 pm.
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Day 42-47:
19-24 September 2007, Istanbul |



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We arrived in Istanbul
via this first class bus by
Varan company at
about 7am. They had a service bus to the hotel,
Ramada Hotel. When we checked in, the
hotel had the
room ready for Camerons, prepared VIP style,
courtesy of the connection we had from another
hotel chain, Kempinski.
Camerons spent the next six days in sight seeing
Istanbul. Among the places visited:
Topkapi
Palace and museum, including Harem and 86
karat diamond, Bosporus
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bosporus strait
all the way to Black Sea, Spice (Egyptian) Bazaar, Covered
Grand
Bazaar
http://www.turkeytravelplanner.com/go/Istanbul/Sights/Beyazit/GrandBazaar.html
Suleymaniye Mosque
http://www.greatbuildings.com/buildings/Suyleman_Mosque.html
Galata Tower
http://www.turkeytravelplanner.com/go/Istanbul/Sights/Beyoglu/GalataTower.html
Beyoglu
http://www.turkeytravelplanner.com/go/Istanbul/Sights/Beyoglu/index.html
Taksim Square, shopping malls, restaurants,
belly dancing dinner on a boat, and many others.
All in all, they had an excellent time.

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Day
48: 25 September 2007, Camerons leaving for
Canada |
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They left Turkey via
Lufthansa back to Canada. Map shows the sea we
have covered so far. |
Contact us
for this voyage
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